Truthful Tourists

1895

Note: The word "drummer" means a salesman.

REMARKABLE STORIES TOLD BY COMMERCIAL TRAVELERS.

An Account of the Tennessee Man's New Pair of Eyes Starts Them — Two of Them Relate Incidents About Severed Limbs That One Will Take With a Sack of Salt.

"Well," said a drummer to a group of his colleagues sitting around the lobby at the Continental hotel, "here's a great yarn. Have you read about the remarkable cure of blindness?"

"No; let's hear it," was the responsive echo.

The first speaker cast his eyes upon his newspaper and read as follows:

CHICKAMAUGA, Tenn. — A wonderful case that has greatly puzzled local doctors has just been published. About ten years ago Thomas Jingle, a well to do farmer, was suddenly smitten with blindness. His eyes were in such a horrible condition that a surgeon removed them, leaving a stump of each optic nerve in the socket. The poor farmer was disconsolate at first, but finally became reconciled to his affliction. One day last month he told his wife that he thought he could distinguish the glare of the lamp. Investigation proved that new eyes were gradually forming around the old nerve remnants. Since then his eyesight has gradually improved as his second set of orbs have developed, and the physicians who have investigated the case have no doubt whatever that he will be able to see as perfectly as before.

"This is a great country," said a drummer at the conclusion of the reading. "A glorious country! The effete monarchies of Europe couldn't begin to show such a marvelous case."

"I don't believe a word of it," said another. "It is nothing but a newspaper fake."

"Not so sure about that," said a commercial tourist from Chicago, "for I know of a case somewhat similar, the truth of which I can guarantee. An uncle of mine was crossing Wabash avenue some five years ago when he fell right under a cable car, and before you could say 'Jack Robinson' his right leg was cut off three inches below the knee. He lay for three months in the hospital, and when he was able to hobble about on a wooden peg he sued the railway company for $5,000 damages. The company paid the amount after considerable litigation. One day my uncle determined to get a new and improved artificial leg, but when he went to remove the old pin, which had served him as a temporary makeshift, he found it had grown tight to the bone. In fact, the flesh of the stump was beginning to grow over the wood, and the doctors said it would have to be amputated above the knee to remove it. He refused to submit to the operation. To his surprise he found that the flesh was gradually growing downward, assuming the shape of the original leg. In the course of a year his limb was entirely restored, the wooden stump taking the place of the original bones. The foot began to form, a little club footed, 'tis true, but perfect enough to kick with, and he now goes about as gracefully as you or I."

"That is really marvelous," said one of his audience.

"Yes," said The veracious narrator from Chicago, "the strange part of it is that the railroad company sued him for the recovery of the $5,000, claiming that, as the leg was restored, they were not liable to damages."

Great indignation was expressed at such smallness, after which a gentleman from Rochester took the floor. Said he:
"I can tell you a stranger tale than that, which I know to be absolutely true. Sam Revere, a friend of mine, was bitten in the arm right above the wrist by a rattlesnake last summer in the Rocky mountains. With great presence of mind he fastened a strap above the wound, and by pulling hard managed to stop the circulation of the poisoned blood. Then he jumped on his burro and galloped to town to see a doctor. It was high time! The hand and wrist were swollen to twice their natural size and were almost black. The doctor reached for his knife and instantly amputated the arm at the elbow. It was the only way of saving Sam's life. I felt sorry for the poor fellow, as he was engaged to be married, and that was the arm he did most of his hugging with. Well, Sam recovered, but though his lower arm was gone he complained of feeling an uncomfortable sensation where his wrist should have been. A month passed and still this impression clung to him. He felt a terrible pressure between the elbow and wrist of the missing arm, and at times the pain was so acute that he could not sleep. One day he determined to go back to the Rocky mountains and see the doctor who had performed the amputation.

" 'By Jove,' said the surgeon, 'I think I know what ails you!' They went out into the yard, where the doctor dug into the earth and after a short hunt brought up the amputated limb. The strap was still tightly closed over the flesh above the wound. The doctor made haste to unfasten it. 'Now,' he said, 'you can go home in peace. The pressure will not trouble you again.' Sam went home satisfied and has never felt the slightest inconvenience since."

"How do you account for that?" asked a drummer from Boston.

"I don't know. Spiritualists say that the spirit takes the exact form of the human body, limbs and everything, and it is possible that when a limb is cut off the spiritual counterpart remains with the bulk of the body, but still retains a certain consciousness of what is happening to the severed member." — Philadelphia Times.

Personal Notices – Mediums and Spiritualists, Dallas, 1929

1929

MRS. LIVINGSTON, spiritualist adviser; advice on affairs of life; no one turned away, money or no money. 2702 Bryan 7-2773.

MADAME SIERRAS — Do you find with all your natural gifts and talents that you are baffled, discouraged and unsuccessful? If so, call 506 South Harwood. 7-6482.

AMBITIOUS Young Men — I need you to fill responsible and big pay positions. $100 per week and upward to those that will prepare themselves by my short personal instructions in applied psychology. Come in, let's talk it over today. Prof. Fahrbach. Birdwell hotel, 6 to 9 p. m.

MYSTIC Tea Room. 105 Stone, announces the return engagement of the "FAMOUS ZEMAR," with the "RADIO" mind. Short engagement.

MME. RITA ARABIC, Reader, 300 N. Peak. 8-3995. Life Readings daily.

SPIRITUAL MEDIUM — READING
Satisfaction guaranteed or no charges.
Hours 9 A. M. to 10 P. M.
Mrs. White, St. George Hotel. 2-2494

MRS. CARLOTTA, spiritualist, reads your life like a book without asking questions; advisor business, marriage, love. 2110 Live Oak. 7-5238.

MRS. C. SAUNDERS, Spiritualist. If troubled or worried, visit this gifted lady, she can help you. 1515 S. Ervay. 7-4704.

CONSULT Mme. Virginia, spiritualist medium. Readings daily. 702 N. Harwood.

MME. LEE, phenomenal medium, tells everything, asks no questions. 3011 Bookhout, one block west Maple Terrace. Fairmount ear. 2-4292. Appointments.

J. F. FELLERS, the gifted healer, has cured many when all else has failed. Trial will convince you. 4617 Garland. 3-5203.

DR. JAMES, spiritualist, recently located 88-year-old father (can give name), Dallasite, lost 38 years. Sunday readings two for $1. 2204 Ross. 7-3427.

—The Daily Times Herald, Dallas, TX, Jan. 1, 1929, p. 12.

Note: The name "Zemar" was missing the "E," so maybe some other letter went there, but in one of my copies of the ad (and these are all bad), it looked sort of like an "E." One other word "spiritualist" was misspelled in one ad, changed here.

Crippled By Fall on Ice

1919

Fractured Bone Can Never Heal, Say Physicians.

DENVER, Colorado — Joe H. Ruffner, widely known mining man, secretary of the Sons of Colorado, will be crippled for life as a result of falling off a patch of ice, according to the report of a physician who made an X-ray examination.

Ruffner is 49 years old. The fall resulted in a fracture of the femur bone of the hip, of such character that it can never heal, according to the examining surgeon.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 12.

Toads as Medicine

1901

"Out of the queer use of a common creature regarded as most potent in old time medicine there came the most surprising and nearly the most important of inventions," says Harvey Sutherland in Ainslee's.

"Every schoolboy knows that a toad can cause warts or make the cow give bloody milk, but not everybody knows that toads are also powerfully medicinal. It is a fact. Martin Luther says so. These are his very words: 'Experience has proved the toad to be endowed with valuable qualities. If you run a stick through three toads, and, after having dried them in the sun, apply them to any pestilent humor, they draw out the poison, and the malady will disappear.'

"Pope Adrian always carried a bag about his neck containing dried toad, pearl, coral, gum tragacanth, smaragd and other articles of junk. It did him a power of good, he said. It was all that kept him up. And lest you think that they only did that hundreds of years ago, I want to say here that when my father was a boy and suffered from quinsy they used to tie live frogs about his throat. The frogs nearly clawed the hide off. They did not cure the quinsy, but that's a detail."

People Retain Belief in Amulets

1910

Superstitions That Once Were General Throughout the World Not Yet Entirety Gone

Faith in the virtue of amulets was well-nigh universal in ancient days; Lord Bacon says the historians had firm belief in them. Indeed, much of the art of medicine consisted in the direction for their employment. Gems, gold, stones, bones, bits of parchment with sacred writing, cylinders of stones, unicorns' horns, all of these would protect against the invading spirits or the influence of the evil eye.

This is the origin of countless popular superstitions that remain to this day. The form has been handed down, while the theories which prompted it have long since been lost sight of. This is why some people carry in their pocket a horse chestnut or a new potato to ward off rheumatism; this is why others tie around the necks of their children a tarred rope as a preventive against all the diseases common to children; this is why others think a gold chain will prevent quinsy sore throat, or a string of root beads worn around the neck will help children to cut teeth.

The coral beads which ease the troubles of teething children and the amber beads which cure asthma are beliefs which are firmly adhered to to this day. Pliny relates that Domitius Nero used to wear the hair of his wife on his neck, thinking it beneficial because it was amber colored. Amulets for teething are of very old date, and as red was a favorite color for an amulet, it can easily be seen how the coral necklace came to be so popular for infants who were teething.

Red was considered very potent in warding off the evil eye. In time of trouble, when the evil eye was especially triumphant, all the red tape in a certain county in England was brought up to ward off its baleful influence. The remains of this superstition still prevail, for many people believe that a red string around the neck is an excellent remedy for asthma, measles and mumps. The preservation of faith in red still exists, as is shown in the great virtues of red flannel, and the belief that the milk of the red cow is better than that of a cow of another color.

The German peasant, if he cuts himself, thinks he stanches the blood better with a red ribbon. This may be accounted for not only by tradition, but by the fact that blood would not form so startling a contrast when wetting a red ribbon as when wetting a white one.


They Really Believe It

Some people cling to the old-fashioned idea that a man must be a genius if he goes about with hair.

Brother Isaiah, Healer: Blind Hope Leads Crippled and Suffering

1920--

NEW ORLEANS, April 3. -- The lame, the halt and the blind are beating a track to the door of "Brother Isaiah," who cures, he claims, by the laying on of hands.

"Brother Isaiah" was christened John Cudney. He is 75. He has been variously Mississippi River derelict, peddler of kindling wood and watchman on a government dredge.

Now he lives with an aged sister in a houseboat and day after day and far into each night prays with the sick and afflicted who come for his aid.

Many testify to his power to cure by faith. Others scoff. His followers emphasize his refusal to accept money or gifts.

When Cudney left the dredge he walked about the water front aiding the infirm he met. His fame spread. Now it is not uncommon for thousands to stand on the river bank watching him at his "miracles."

At first only the poor and illiterate came. Now, blind hope leads; white and black, poverty-stricken and wealthy come to him for aid. Once he prayed 22 hours and had to turn away supplicants to obtain rest and food. He prayed with them all that night in a driving rain until 6 o'clock in the morning.

Failed With a Few

For a while it looked bad for "Brother Isaiah." Some of those who had apparently been benefited found their joy was premature.

But the crowds came back when he said he had failed in some cases because of the "supplicant's lack of faith."

Others attested to complete cures; friends and relatives backed them up. One is Mrs. Emilia Letarovich, who for seven years had been an invalid. She walked away from the healer's boat crying that she was cured.

Careful checking of "cures" or "benefits" reveals that the Miracle Man has had little success in relieving those affected by organic diseases. But he has cured or benefited those who ailments might be due largely to imagination, shock or mental condition.

Woman Was Cured

Friends of Mrs. Alex Pujol, wife of the deputy commissioner of public works, who could scarcely walk or move her fingers because of rheumatism, say that she can now walk across the room and use her hands more freely than she has in years.

"This is the power of the living God," "Brother Isaiah" tells his crowds. "I lay my hands on and life takes place in the flesh of sickness. It is the spirit of the Lord that makes them well. None is cured save he who has faith in the Lord and his works. Those I have healed are healed by faith."

--The Des Moines News, Des Moines, Iowa, April 3, 1920, page 4.


"BROTHER ISAIAH" IS ORDERED TO USE SOAP
Healer Must Wash His Hands Between "Layings On," Declare New Orleans Board of Health

NEW ORLEANS -- "Brother Isaiah," aged "faith healer," here has fallen afoul of the state board of health which alleges he doesn't wash his hands between "laying on."

The "Brother" says he is entirely willing to use any soap prescribed. The mayor and police of New Orleans have refused to take action against the old man, because they say most people are anxious to have him continue his "healing."

Since he began his ministrations about a month ago the multitude that daily attends his sermons has increased to the point where the Red Cross has been forced to erect tents to care for the sick who await his treatments.

The old man will accept no money whatever.

Dr. Oscar Dowling, president of the State Board of Health, made the protest that the "healer" did not wash his hands between "layings on."

"Brother Isaiah" immediately stated his willingness to use soap.

Two crippled boys gave the old man soap when the first attempt to check his meetings was made. They ran away when he tried to pay them.

--Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, Wisconsin, April 4, 1920, page 10 of Part 2.